1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sporting event analysis device, and more particularly to an electronic device which permits one or more users to determine and analyze the nature and effectiveness of one's play strategies compared to those of the coach or manager of an actual team engaged in a sports athletic contest.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Keen interest in sports plus the advent and commercialization of integrated circuit chips has resulted in the development of electronic games and devices related to various sports. By far, the largest category of devices are electronic games developed for the purpose of amusement, while a few devices are geared to the scoring and/or analysis of individual player performance.
In the largest category of electronic games, those for amusement, players match their skills against each other (or against the computer) while "simulating" the play of baseball, football, basketball, hockey, etc. Typical of these simulated athletic contest devices are those disclosed by the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,860,239; 4,240,632; 4,240,633; and 4,195,838 (each of the latter pertaining to baseball); and 4,162,792; 4,249,734; and 4,249,735 (each of the latter pertaining to football). Further illustration of these developments is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,744, which describes a generic method appropriate to a variety of electronically simulated sports action contests.
Each of the devices of the aforementioned patents is based on a similar framework and mode of operation--the simulation of an athletic contest with simulated players and/or teams. Simulation of plays and events is accomplished by a visual display of lights or figures which represent "players" or "teams". In many (if not all) instances, the performance of a particular simulated "player" or "team" results in large part, if not exclusively, from the device user's dexterity and coordination (such as manual or wrist dexterity and ocular coordination) which affect the outcome of the simulated contest in a positive or negative manner.
In the aforementioned disclosures, there is no operational reference to real players or teams engaged in an ongoing actual contest. That is to say, a user's score in the game device is principally determined by eye-hand coordination in the electronically simulated athletic contest.
Other electronic devices have been developed to assist in the scoring and/or analysis of card games or sport events. Illustrative of these devices are the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,030,764 (a bridge-bidding indicator); 4,193,600 (a cribbage scoring device); and 3,718,812 (a bowling score computer). U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,548 provides a device which allows a user to enter beforehand a prediction of a play and yardage outcome for a football team engaged in an actual game. The device, however, is structured only for the sport of football, is AC-powered and non-portable, and is geared to a limited set of four play predictions (i.e., run, pass, punt, field goal) in which one's score is premised solely on comparing what was predicted to what occurred (via "an "immediate play" electronic signal comparison). User feedback from this comparison is only a numeric, overall score and is not separable or distinguishable by team. Since there is no micro-computer providing a memory capability, no data are stored to provide various measures of play effectiveness or to give "feedback" analyses in a user-choice mode with respect to different plays.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,992, while being portable and having memory capability, is geared to an "individual player" sport, and, in this particular case, is intended to provide recording and assessment of golf shots made by a single player. The device is not intended for comparisons of the shots made by two individual golfers, nor is it intended for "team sports" in terms of their respective plays and the effectiveness of same. Thus, the latter patent is geared to having a single user of the device (such as a recruiter or scout) and is used for monitoring an individual player's performance, not for one or two users who wish to record and assess the nature, effectiveness and outcomes of play strategies for team sports, such as football or baseball.
To summarize, the prior art, as exemplified by the aforementioned patents, is directed toward the following: (1) amusement devices in which the "simulation" of an athletic contest is featured, and involving lights/representational figures where eye-hand coordination is central to the outcome of the games; and (2) data devices in which one predicts a play in a team sport, or in which one records data for an individual sport such as golf (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,992 above), and which devices are directed to the individual performance of a single player/golfer. Moreover, the prior art in this latter domain has not disclosed a singular device which is readily adaptable to a variety of sports, or a device which permits user-chosen recall/analysis from computer memory of team play strategies and the effectiveness of same.